Reader Elliot writes:
What started as a few people withdrawing their memberships from the NRA has turned into big names fighting over who the biggest purist is and publicly putting down other organizations. LeaSpeed6 is now publicly battling Collin Noir and I see this getting bigger. Gun rights supporters are drawing lines in the sand and dissociating from other groups, fracturing our movement into smaller and easier-to-beat groups.
First, let me tell you where I’m coming from. I don’t know if they’ll use me, but I volunteered to be a plaintiff for the Firearms Policy Coalition’s bump stock lawsuit. I support the SAF, GOA, and FPC. I own a bump fire stock and have never even opened the packaging…but I will fight to keep it.
I don’t need to go into why, as your readers know all too well. I think concealed carry licenses are unconstitutional and that I should be able to carry anywhere that a private property owner doesn’t prohibit it. I want to be able to buy an automatic rifle from my corner gun store without any permission needed. I’m certainly in agreement with the positions taken by most of the people throwing rocks right now.
I have written to the NRA to tell them of my displeasure with not only their position on bump stocks, but with their obsession with getting money and their lack of support for some black gun owners. They have been disgusting. But…we all would be remiss to think that in the future battle for semi-automatic rifles (it is coming), that it won’t be the NRA that will be the biggest player in keeping that from happening.
We are all on the same side, just to varying degrees. It doesn’t mean we have to agree or even support organizations that don’t completely align with our position. But we don’t need to fight and cause activist gun owners to pick sides and weaken our cause overall.
The NRA has gone through reformations before and we must continue to fight for that, just as the Democrat and Republican parties fight to reform their parties to their way of thinking. But if we just kick them to the curb altogether, we will only weaken our position in the future.
This public infighting will work for now, but when we have an all-Democrat executive and legislative branch we might find ourselves too weak to oppose it. History tells us it will happen again. Can’t we all just get along?